A Chant of Love and Lamentation
Charlie Kaleohano is a man pushed by desperation to blow up a grand Waikiki hotel, an act calculated to strike back at the forces that have long suppressed Hawai`i. He flees into the wild uplands near Honolulu and gradually rediscovers himself through hardship, but his act of terrorism has brought the collapse of Hawai`i’s economy and teetering social tension. Jeff, a failing Honolulu real estate agent, loses his wife and sanity to an act of random violence. And Daniel, the son of the Heir Presumptive, returns to the islands for his brother’s funeral only to get caught up in his father’s push to reclaim a sovereign Hawai`i, an insurgency that will surely lead to his execution if it fails. As the islands slide into recession, unemployment and racial strife, these men fight to hold onto a Hawai`i that once was, or push it toward its ultimate destiny.
A Chant of Love and Lamentation was a Finalist in the 2012 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. A panel of expert judges described it as “haunting,” “dramatic and authentic,” “well-researched and readable,” and “a story that will stay in the reader’s imagination.” Publisher’s Weekly described it “well worth a reader’s time.”
Brian Reeves 